Bright Eyes
by Graf Edric
Summary: Mary keeps encountering an odd but rather attractive new employee at her workplace. He seems to show an interest in her but his behavior is so patently bizarre that she's determined to figure him out. Is he just another crazy weirdo or is there a reasonable explanation for his strangeness? Disclaimer: All copyrighted material property of its respective owners.


RAI

Chapter 1

Most of the time, when you first encounter anyone in a new environment, they tend melt into an indistinguishable blur of unfamiliar faces. You can't really remember which chick with blonde hair was Heather the office manager as opposed to Ashley the HR admin, or which bearded guy was the one who took care of the mail, or the one who worked in IT. Some people do stand out, and you would think a towering middle-aged guy with an untimely shock of blazing white hair and freakishly pale blue eyes would have been one of those exceptions, but I never noticed him until I'd been working there for at least a month, when he scared the hell out of me as I was entering the break room and he was trying to leave. He almost plowed me over and was meekly apologetic. I was speechless at the sight of him. Not because I thought he was terribly attractive or anything, but his appearance was just so striking, I was lost for words. The first thing I thought of was the replicant played by Rutger Hauer in Blade Runner. Similar coloring, similar build. Just _very tall_. I babbled something even I didn't understand and stumbled awkwardly past him. I must have had a strange look on my face because as the door closed behind me, one of the random girls in the break room burst out laughing.

"Who the hell was that?" I whispered as soon as the door was closed.

"I think he's one of the VP's," she responded.

"He was looking into my _soul_ ," I joked.

"That's Raiden," a chubby, dark-haired guy announced from his station in front of the fridge at the other side of the room. "Like from Mortal Kombat- _Raidennn_." He assumed some sort of ungainly, pseudo-kung fu pose. "He looks just like him. Google it."

"Yeah okay," I laughed and continued on through the room, exiting out the rear door. I went to the bathroom and felt the need to look in the full-length mirror to make sure I was presentable. _Gross. Why did I look?_ I looked so unprofessional. My hair was a mess. My shirt was hanging down way too low in the front; anyone glancing down from above would have totally seen my bra, maybe even a nipple. No wonder VP Raiden had been staring so obscenely. I pulled up the front of my shirt and then hastily braided my hair, trying not to hear the disturbing grunting sounds coming from the apparently constipated woman in the middle stall. I checked my teeth to make sure I didn't have any leftovers from breakfast hanging around and headed back to my station at the reception desk.

The next time I saw him was when he walked in the front doors and marched right past my fellow receptionist and I. It had been a few weeks. He must have normally come in the back or something. My brain went, " _There he is!"_ which made my heart engage in an unexpected and involuntary flip. He did a double-take at me with his disturbingly pale eyes. I imagined he was thinking, " _There's that chick whose boob I saw!"_

My eyes met Victoria's, the other receptionist; a petite Colombian lady with enviably glossy black hair.

"That guy…" I said in a low voice.

"Yes, he is weird." She declared casually in her strong Latin accent.

I was tempted to relay to her how I was pretty sure I'd accidentally flashed him some titty, but I hadn't known her long enough to be sure she'd find it more harmlessly amusing than horrifying and inappropriate that I would share something like that with her.

"Who is he?"

"He is a manager. I think... I don't know. He never talks." She giggled and then raised a well-groomed dark eyebrow. "Do you like him?"

"No, no," I laughed. "He's weird looking. I didn't know who he was, that's all."

"His eyes, they are very… bright."

"Yeah, for real."

It was at this point that I became slightly curious to know who he actually was. I started looking out for him and lo and behold, the very next day he walked through the front doors again, glancing at me slyly on his way past. He didn't say anything or smile. He looked, and he kept walking.

"Bright eyes," Victoria whispered after he'd disappeared into the back offices. "Why he is coming through here every day now?"

"I don't know. And what's with the young face and the white hair? I mean is he like thirty, or eighty?" I replied incredulously.

Victoria laughed. "We have to solve this mystery, Mary."

The next day we watched him stride up to the glass double doors at the entrance to the office. As he walked by, Victoria cheerfully called out, "Good morning sir, how are you today?"

He looked a little startled and the infamous eyes darted from me to Victoria. He mumbled something along the lines of, "Er, uh, um - fine," and actually smiled slightly, revealing two big front teeth that overlapped a bit. He looked a bit less like Rutger Hauer's replicant now, aside from the coloring: he had more refined features, with a hint of Asian ancestry in the bone structure and the shape of his eyes. He had a straight, pointy nose, and lips that reminded me of a baby's.

 _Okay, I'd have to admit it. He was sort of cute._

He seemed a little flustered by the unexpected attention and hurried past the front desk, staring at his shoes.

Victoria took the words right out of my mouth. "Awwwww, he's cuuuuuute," she cooed as soon as he was out of earshot. "I think he is shy."

"Yeah, he's not so bad I guess." I admitted. "At least he smiled."

"Yes, at least he was not like this…" She held up her middle finger behind the desk and we both laughed.

For the next few days, our mysterious visitor didn't appear. Victoria and I began to assume she had frightened him off by greeting him so boldly. Then, on my way to drop off some courier mail to one of the staff members in the back office, I passed him. He again looked piercingly into my face, but this time, I responded with a big, friendly grin. And he smiled back, bashfully, revealing a few more big, white teeth and dimples in his cheeks.

The next morning, he was back, cruising nonchalantly through the reception area. He looked at me with an obvious expression of expectancy.

"Good morning!" Victoria and I chimed in simultaneously.

"Good morning," he replied - almost in a whisper but so transparently pleased with himself. It was as if he'd been planning that one since he'd last seen me the day before, and was legitimately proud of how well it had turned out. _Hilarious._

I snickered as soon as he'd cleared the area. "What was that?"

"I know… he is so silly. Such a silly boy," Victoria replied.

"We talk about him like he's our kid or something," I laughed.

"He is! He is our little boy." She announced jokingly.

"Little? I don't think so. He's like seven feet tall!"

"Nooooo, he is like only six feet and a half. He is still our little boy; we just feed him a lot. He eat very well."

I was laughing uncontrollably at this point. Victoria's accent along with her willingness to engage in utterly ridiculous banter never failed to crack me up. "You know what?" I added, "We need to find out his name. I mean, we can't have him be our baby and not know what his name is!"

"Tomorrow. Tomorrow I will ask what is his name. And I hope we will not scare him away."

There was a slight air of anticipation at the reception desk the next morning. Or at least it seemed that way to me. Each time the big, glass doors swung open I felt a little wave of anxiety. Finally, I spotted him approaching the entrance, and it set my heart pounding. I took a deep breath, willing the annoying sensation to leave me.

Victoria was totally unfazed, as usual. "Good morning!" She called out, smiling and waving at our new friend.

"Good morning," he replied quietly. He looked at me as if to say, " _No 'good morning' from you?"_

I was about to give him his usual greeting when Victoria boldly chimed in with, "So! What is your name?"

He focused his gaze on her, hesitating to respond for some reason. "Uhh…"

"We see you so much here. You are our friend. But we don't know your name," Victoria explained.

"Uh, it's… er…uh," it was as if he couldn't remember his own name. I felt bad for him.

"I'm Victoria, and this is Mary."

"Um, Ray – It's Ray." He managed; sudden blotches of crimson appearing on his otherwise remarkably flawless skin.

"Ray! It's very nice to meet you, Ray!" Victoria announced lovingly. He smiled, but he looked traumatized. I tried to show him an expression of empathy. I wanted to say something, but my brain was unable to conjure up any words that made sense.

 _Oh, Ray… how can you be so attractive, and so …HUGE, and still so painfully shy?_ I wondered.

Victoria waved him closer. "Come here. Come here, Ray."

He obediently took a few small steps toward the reception desk. He glanced from Victoria to me and back again. The smile on his face did little to conceal his apparent state of abject terror. Victoria insisted that he come even closer, so he continued to shuffle forward little by little until she was satisfied with his proximity to her. The red blotches on his face were multiplying in number and intensity. She reached out, motioning for him to give her his hand. He let out a small, nervous laugh. Once she had clasped his hand in both of hers, she leaned in and said, "Ray. We like you. So please don't be shy of us. You can come through here every day. And please, talk to us. We like to see you, okay?"

He nodded in compliance.

"Okay?" Victoria repeated. "You come to see us anytime."

"Okay," he whispered, nodding his head again.

She let go of his hand and waved him on his way. I shot him a sympathetic smile as he made haste for the doors leading into the back offices.

"That's it, we'll never see him again," I declared, only half joking.

"No, you think so? I think he will be back. He likes it."

"He looked like he was about to throw up from terror."

"No," Victoria laughed, "He likes it. Trust me. He is a man; we are pretty girls. He is just very shy."

"Maybe he's gay," I offered.

" _No_ ; if he was gay he would not be so shy. He is shy because he likes us. Or maybe he likes _you_ , because he can't stop looking at you. Did you notice? He is always looking at you."

I went ahead and told her about my suspicion that he caught a peek at my boob and she erupted in hysterical laughter. "Mary, you are so funny. That is one good way to get a man!"

"Hey now, I didn't do it on purpose! I thought he was weird!"

"He _is_ weird. But he is cute. And _I_ think he likes you!"

I rolled my eyes emphatically. " _Great,_ that's all I need."

"Oh please. You know you want some of that." Victoria proclaimed with a sly grin.

I pretended to be horrified, much to her amusement.

"You know it's like _this_ …" She made a hand gesture demonstrating something about two feet long.

"Oh my God! There is such a thing as too big, you know! I mean, someone would have to have a vagina like the freaking Grand Canyon to handle that shit! Besides, we're getting a little ahead of ourselves here. We don't even know if he really likes me or what. Maybe he's just legit retarded or crazy." No sooner had the words left my mouth than I simultaneously realized how loudly we'd been talking and that there was an old woman standing in the lobby, staring at us with her mouth agape. "Sorry!" I yelled, praying she wouldn't immediately haul ass back to the office and tell my manager. Fortunately, she decided instead to leave the building in disgust.

That evening I sat in my apartment, flipping through the TV channels and considering the prospect of this towering, eccentric person taking some special interest in me. I couldn't imagine why, outside of the possibility of having seen my boob, he would find me more attractive or interesting than any of the other petite, blonde-haired young women who worked in that massive office building. It was mainly this aspect, along with his inexplicable awkwardness, of course, that made me suspect he wasn't quite right in the head. He was a genuine mystery. He was always dressed very professionally in tailored business suits with nice, classy dress shoes. He seemed very clean-cut - although he could have used a trip to the barbershop, as his hair was really starting to curl up over his ears – but all in all, even with his unusual coloring, he didn't look the part of a lunatic. He acted so oddly, though. It was the sort of behavior you'd expect out of a shy twelve-year-old kid just discovering his attraction to girls; not a middle-aged man. But he was _cute_ , damn it. Those slanty blue eyes, the shiny white hair, that lovely tan complexion – he was definitely an attractive guy. There was no denying it.

However, I'd certainly encountered my share of crazy idiots and I really didn't want to add another one to the list. If he really was interested, I decided I would try to keep it extremely casual until I could confirm that he was reasonably sane and not dangerous in any way.


End file.
